Bragtown School

Photo courtesy of Fisk University Franklin Library, Special Collections

This two-teacher school was built for the 1926-27 school year. It was constructed on two acres of land and cost $4,690. Of this total, $200 came from the black community, $3,790 from public funds (provided by the Durham County school board), and $700 came from the Rosenwald Fund. It was insured for $3,000. The Bragtown School was located in Durham Township and was completed during the tenure of Jeanes supervisor Gertrude Tandy Taylor. In 1927 it was among the county schools incorporated into the Durham city school district.

A school for black children existed in the Bragtown area by 1902, but like most schools provided for these children in that era, it was a hand-me-down or "recycled" school that had been decommissioned as a school for white children. In 1924, just before the building of the Bragtown Rosenwald school, black children were attending school at a local church.

For the 1929-30 school year, an addition was built, making the school large enough for three teachers. The addition cost $1,650, with $20 coming from the black community, $1,480 from public funds, and $150 from the Rosenwald Fund.